Hello Folks,

I am new to the forum. I am thinking of trading our 96 civic sedan four door for a new fit.

I drove the new civic and the fit and the fit I think actually drives like our current 1996 Honda civic more than the new civic.

The new civic seems kind of big and doesn't seem to handle as good or is as much fun to drive around town (but that is probably just me). It would definitely have to be a stick cause our current civic is a stick.

But I drove a couple new fits and I really like driving them they are fun and I like the looks of them and they actually have more room than our current civic.

Been reading your forums mostly for problems with the fits and doesn't look like a lot except the a/c and the condenser that is open to gather rocks.

Is the a/c really a problem does it blow cold? The ones I drove felt fine and cooled off during the drive.
That is major point with me our civic still blows cold and works great. Our summers can be 100 degrees and 100% humidity in the mid-west so that is a major major sticking point.

Looks like the protection of the condenser is an easy fix. So no problem.

Anyway I guess I am leaning toward getting a fit versus a civic. Any thoughts or ideas? Do you all think that the fit will have the same reliability as the mid 90's civic? I know this is a fit forum but it seems like an honest and truthful one.

One last note is I am still getting 30MPG combined city on our civic and that is one reason why I am considering the fit. The engine seems pretty similar to the one that is in our civic.

Thanks

 

Just for the sake of argument, why are you thinking of getting rid of the Civic? It sounds like it meets your needs. My rule of thumb is to run a car into the ground; when it starts costing $1000 a year in repairs (in addition to routine maintenance), it's time to look for a replacement.

That said, as far as I can see, the Fit has the lowest repair/problem rate of all current Hondas, and there have been a lot of engineering changes in 13 years, so you may be ready to ditch the Civic. I have found the A/C to be perfectly adequate in east coast heat and humidity, but this is after only 2 weeks and less than a thousand miles, so what do I know.

 

I would suggest that you keep your Civic unless the civic keeps on breaking down. You'll be happier without monthly payment.

The A/C on the Fit(I have a GD3) is descent and able to keep me cool on the summer time and did not have any problems with the A/C since day 1. The only thing is that the Civic seat is way more comfortable than the seat of the Fit.

I am getting 37-44mpg combined driving with my 2008 Honda Fit. But that is 85% highway and 15% city. My estimate if you will be driving more in city, expect to get about 30-36mpg.

If I don't need all the space that the Fit has, I may have ended up getting a 4dr Civic. they are both fun to drive.

 

I have an 08 (GD3). The A/C isn't quite as good as say, our mazda, but it still blows cold enough.

 

"Just for the sake of argument, why are you thinking of getting rid of the Civic?"

That is a question my wife and I have been struggling with.

The civic has been the best car we have owned.
We bought a Mazda 3 two years ago and will be paid off within two years and when that happens we will probably be getting a new car. I personally want something that gets better mileage than the Mazda 3 and is still fun to drive.

It is more of a family planning issue. When we are paying for my daughters high school we don't really want to be paying on a car so we would like to have that out of the way before she goes into high school and college. And we don't want to have to buy one when she is in the middle of high school and college either.

But who knows we may be keeping the civic forever. It has 108000 miles on it so from what hear it is just getting broken in. Had the timing belt done at 103000 miles so it isn't like it won't last us and we have to get rid of it.

But it is good to hear that the fit is just as reliable. We usually keep our cars in great shape (use amsoil oil) and we keep them between 10 and 15 years but I think the civic will last a lot longer than that.

As far as the technology I do like the usb stereo hookup. no more cd's. just by an 8gig thumb drive and be done with it.

Even though our civic has more horsepower seems like the fit has more usable horsepower.

I guess I haven't sat long enough on the seats in the fit but I personally liked them. To me they were a little harder and more supportive. The civic I test drove the seat didn't seem like it went down far enough to where I had enough headroom. But I didn't have that problem on the fit.

Thanks for all your replies.

 

i think you should run the civic into the ground. You'll see a lot of changes to cars in the next 4 years or so, so if you have a reliable car, i'd wait.

 

Yep, one of the things I didn't like about the new Civic I had (06') was exactly that. It's much comfy-er than the previous civics but it didn't feel like any of them. The rear suspension had that wobbly feel too out of the box...like on a multi-link sus car with poor alignment.

The Fit reminded me of my old 90' civic hb I had back in the days and that was one of my favorite cars.

 

With todays economy if the 96 is doing the job dont get into payments. PAYMENTS SUCK!! But I do love my Fit.

 

I guess I'm the oddball here. I don't think the new civic feels the same as the old ones but.... I think it feels better. it's got more power and handles like a dream. in the si at least(the only one I've considered)

 

I just got out of a '99 Civic EX (same design as your '96) with 143k miles. It was doing pretty well, but had some minor issues. The hood release cable snapped on me, and that helped confirm my decision to replace it.

My new Fit Sport is indeed more like Civics used to be than the new Civics are. I particularly like the instrumentation and the steering feel better in the Fit than in the new Civic. It's the direct successor to those old Civic wagons and hatchbacks that have now disappeared from the North American market.

There's no doubt that your '96 Civic has plenty of life left in it, if it's been well maintained. But IF you have decided that now is the right time to replace it, the Fit is the closest thing to that old Civic that you'll find on the market.

 

Don't get rid of the Civic. Doing so is throwing money down the drain. If you love it, keep loving it! I'm not getting rid of my Fit until it explodes.

And I had a '01 Civic. Handling sucked ass, almost killed me numerous times after the shocks got a little worn. Ate a tranny every 80k miles and wasn't really very fun to drive. Haven't driven the new ones.

 

that's probably the never buy the first year after a redesign part that did it to you

 

Curious does the 09 fit engine have a timing chain or belt?

 

Chain. Cheaper to maintain.